Wake Me Up
by Jenny-Elric
Summary: Ren Tachibana goes misisng.
1. Chapter 1

It was a Friday night and Haruka was making his usual mackerel and pineapple pizza. He thought of inviting Makoto over but quickly discarded that thought when he remembered that his best friend told him that his father had gotten sick, so he would stay at home taking care of him and helping his mother with the twins. But Haruka was planning on going to Makoto's house on Saturday to help the Tachibana's, they were after all, and even though Haruka wouldn't say it out loud, like a family to him.

As Haruka was carefully placing a pineapple piece over his mackerel pizza, the bell rang, making him drop the piece, as Rei would say "unbeautifully". Haruka sighed but frowned when the bell rang again, and again, and again. He made his way to the door, but when he opened it he was met with the sight of a crying Makoto.

"Makoto?" asked Haruka with wide eyes.

"Ha-Haru, you need to help me, please! I-I don't know what to do! What if-what if he's hurt? I-just I-just" Makoto burst into tears as he let his head all on Haruka's shoulder.

"Makoto, calm down. Who's hurt? What happened?"

"It's Ren! Haru we can't find Ren!" Haruka felt his heart painfully skipping a beat. Ren was lost? "Remember that I stayed at home today to help mom? We got a call from the school asking why Ren wasn't there! I took them both to school myself! I asked Ran and she started crying saying that she had a fight with him and called him some nasty names, and that he had run away! Haru it's nighttime! We've been looking for him the whole day! Where's my brother?" his voice broke again with this last question. Nanase just couldn't believe his ears. He hugged Makoto, trying to calm himself down: Makoto needed him, he had to be strong for him.

"I'll help you look for him. But let's call everybody first, they are at different parts of town, it will be helpful if they look for him over there" Makoto nodded, taking deep breaths but with tears still sliding down his cheeks. Haruka took his cellphone and dialed the first number.

"Huh? Haru? What the hell are you doing calling me? I thought you didn't know how to use your phone" Haruka could picture Rin smirking.

"Rin, we need your help: Ren is missing. I can't tell you the details, I need you to look for him over there, please" Haru heard the sound of fabric moving.

"Shit! What? Damn it! I'll go now. How's Makoto holding up?" he heard a door opening and closing.

"Badly. He is going to have a panic attack at any second"

"Fuck! Call me if you have any news, I'll do the same" He stopped himself for a second "And tell Makoto not to worry: we'll find Ren, I fucking promise him that"

"I'll tell him, thank you" he hanged up and turned to look at Makoto who was sitting on the sofa playing with his fingers, sniffing "Rin asked me to tell you that we will find him, he said it's a promise" Makoto tried to smile but couldn't, so he just nodded. Haruka dialed the second number.

"Haruka-senpai, what a rare thing for you to be calling me. At what do I own this pleasure?"

"Rei, remember Makoto's brother?"

"Ren? Why, of course! What about him?"

"He's missing. Please, we need you to look for him" He heard a gasp over the phone.

"Ren-kun is missing? Oh no! I'll look for him, but if we can't find him today, we will have to call the police" Haruka nodded but then remembered that Rei couldn't see him.

"Please call Nagisa" after hanging up he turned to look at Makoto, who stood up drying his tears.

"Haru…

"Let's go keep looking for Ren"

Makoto nodded and followed Haruka out of the house.

He was frantic, desperate. It was his entire fault! After all he had promised his dad that he would take good care of the twins, but he had failed. And now his mom was an hour away from having a mental breakdown while his father was out on the streets while being sick. But most importantly, he had failed as a big brother. And sadly, Ren was a lot like him: he was easily scared. He was afraid of the dark. And he was so little! What if he was hurt? What if he was kidnapped? He could picture his little brother alone in a dark corner, crying. It made him start crying all over again.

"Makoto" he felt a hand on his shoulder, he looked at his best friend who was looking at him with a very serious expression, but he could see the concern in his eyes. He tried smiling again, but he failed once more. He looked down.

"Haru, What if he's hurt? What if someone took him? What if he's…" _dead _that's what he meant to say but he couldn't even bring himself to think about that possibility. But Haru seemed to be able to know what he meant because he roughly took him by his shoulders, making Makoto look up.

"Listen to me. Nothing good will come if we just stand here thinking about those things. Rin, Nagisa and Rei are looking for him, we will find him" he then proceed to softly dry Makoto's tears with his finger. Makoto took Haruka's hand in his and kissed it softly.

"Thanks Haru-chan"

"Smile more. And drop the 'chan' already"


	2. Chapter 2

They had been searching for 2 hours now, and it was getting really late. All the shops had already closed an hour ago, there were no people on the street and the only sound left was the faint sound of the waves crashing softly against the rocks. The dim light of the old streetlights were the only source of light available at the moment.

Haruka was looking for Ren around the beach while Makoto was doing the same thing around their school. He didn't want to leave Makoto alone, he really didn't, but he knew that to find Ren they needed to go separate ways. He still couldn't believe it. Ren, missing? Ever since Makoto told him about what had happened, Haruka has been feeling an awful sensation in his heart, it was as if his heart was being constantly oppressed. He had only felt this when Makoto was drowning, when he wouldn't wake up. But now a boy who he considers to be a little brother was missing. He had to take deep breaths to calm himself down, to keep his tears at bay.

The sound of his phone ringing distracted him from his thoughts.

"Hello"

"Haru! Any news?" Rin's voice was loud and ragged.

"Not yet"

"Damn it! No news here either. We've looked everywhere, I can't believe this happened"

"We?"

"Oh yes, Ai, Sousuke and Momo are helping"

"Thank you"

"Have you guys called the police?"

"Makoto's mother did"

"Okay, I'll keep searching" said Rin after a big sigh.

"Okay, goodbye" Haru hanged up the phone and then looked at the ocean. For the first time in his life, he didn't want to swim.

"Ren! Ren!" shouted Makoto with his hands around his mouth. His heart was beating fast, he had a headache and the tears were falling like a waterfall. "Ren!" his voice was raspy. He looked around once more, but everything was silent, he put his hands on his face and started crying. He remembered when the twins were born, at first he had been jealous, but when he had the chance to meet them, when he saw them in his mother's arms he couldn't help but smile, they were really cute! His father told him that he would have to protect them, he was the older brother. And Makoto swore with his life that he would protect them, that he wouldn't let anything happen to them, but he had failed Ren, he had failed everyone. He felt his phone vibrating. He took a deep breath and answered his phone without looking at the caller's name.

"He…

"Mako-chan! I know where Ren-chan is!" said Nagisa very excited; he could hear the smile on his face. Makoto's heart skipped a beat and his eyes were wide open.

"Nagisa, that's great! Where? Where is he?"

"We showed a photo to girl she said she saw him around Iwatobi SC Returns! You need to go there, Mako-chan!" Makoto's heart filled with hope.

"I'll go right now, thank you Nagisa!"

"Don't worry, Mako-chan. Call me later!"

"I will, thank you" and with that Makoto hanged up and started running towards the swimming club. He totally forgot checking there!

_Flashback_

"_Rin-senpai!" called his captain Momotarou with a big smile while waving his hand in the air, but lost his smile and lowered his arm when he saw the worried expression Rin had on his face while he was talking over the phone._

"_Momo-kun, Why are you here? I thought you had to do some homework, don't slack off, please!" said Aiichirou when he saw his kouhai in the middle of the hallway, but when he noticed that he wasn't paying any attention he asked "Momo-kun, What are you…? Ah! Rin-senpai!" called Ai just in the same moment Rin finished talking. The read head jogged towards them._

"_Guys, I'm so lucky you are here. Please cover for me" _

"_Cover for you? Where are you going senpai?" asked Momotarou very confused, but then his expression changed to a surprised one. "Oh! Are you going to sneak out to go to some party, Rin-senpai? Take me with you!" asked him with stars in his eyes. Rin sighed._

"_No, idiot, I'm not going to a party" Rin sighed again with a sad expression. "Makoto's brother, Ren, is missing. I'm going to help look for him" Momotarou and Aiichirou's eyes and were wide open._

"_A missing kid?" asked the first year. "I'll help!" _

"_Let me help too, senpai!" said Aiichirou. "We will find him faster if we all look for him!" Rin smiled at this._

"_Guys…_

"_Rin?" a husky voice came from the door of Rin's room._

"_Sousuke, sorry I woke you up when you are sick" apologized Rin._

"_Don't worry about it, What's wrong? Why are you all gather here?" _

"_Makoto's brother is missing, we are going to look for him" answered Rin looking down, when Sousuke saw how worried his best friend looked he decided to help him._

"_I'll go too" _

"_What? No, you can't come, you have a cold, and you should rest"_

"_I'm fine now, and this is important to you" said Sousuke with a warm smile only reserved for Rin who blushed and then nodded. "Now, do you have a photo of this boy? What's his name?"_

"_I actually do!" said Nitori while taking out his cellphone from his pocket. "I took a photo of Rin-senpai and Tachibana-san together, but Tachibana's-san siblings were in the picture too! His name is Ren. Here it is!" he showed them a photo of a smirking Rin with his arm over Makoto's shoulder, while Makoto's hands were on his siblings shoulders, all smiling. _

"_Oh yes, this photo is from that competition we had"_

"_From when I met Gou-san!" said Momotarou with dreamy eyes. Rin slapped the back of his head._

"_Okay then, Ai, could you go with Sousuke? I'll go with Momo" _

"_Sure, senpai!"_

_End of Flashback_

"It's been two hours. Have called you Nanase-senpai?" asked Nitori when they gathered in front of the gates of Samezuka.

"Yes, I have. They police is also looking for him."

"That's great, isn't it?" asked Momotarou with a smile. "It means that we will find him for sure, right?" when everyone kept quiet, he lost his smile. "Come on, guys. We will find him. We can't lose our hope now."

"He's right, Rin" said Sousuke while putting a hand on his best friend's shoulder.

"Yeah. Listen, I'll keep looking for him by myself, you guys must be really tired"

"What are you saying, Rin-senpai? I'm not going to let you look for him on your own!" said Aiichirou with a determined look on his face, Momotarou nodded.

"Let's keep looking, at least for another hour" proposed Sousuke, Rin nodded with a smile.

"Thanks, guys, really, thank you"


	3. Chapter 3

Ren couldn't stop shaking. He was sitting down with his back against the swimming club where he went swimming with his sister, his onii-chan and Haru-nii, he was hugging his knees with his arms trying to protect himself from the cold and to calm his hungry stomach. He had already eaten the lunch box his onii-chan had made for him hours ago. He wanted to go back home, but he couldn't remember the way and he was too afraid to ask a stranger, what if they hurt him? His parents always told him not to talk to strangers, but he wanted go home. He wanted to see his dad, his mom, his nii-chan and even Ran. He wasn't mad at her anymore; he wanted to play with her.

_Flashback_

_"Okay, kids. Have a nice day at school, remember that I packed your lunch boxes, so you don't need to buy anything" said Makoto kneeling in front of them with a kind smile on his face. They were at the school gates._

_"Okay, onii-chan!" said Ran right before kissing Makoto's cheek. The tall boy chuckled and then received the same treatment from his brother. Ran took Ren's hand and they started running through the school's front yard towards the school's inner gates while waving their hands at their brother, who waved in return. Shortly after, Makoto turned around and started walking home, without looking back. If he did, he would have noticed how his siblings had stopped running, how the hadn't reach the entrance._

_"Give me your lunch box, Ren" _

_"What? Why would I give it to you? I don't want to!" said Ren while closing his tiny hands into fists._

_"Come on, just give it to me! I want to see what onii-chan made for lunch" Ran tried taking his brother's backpack, but he hugged it to his chest._

_"Why don't you just see yours then?"_

_"Because I'm sure that onii-chan made more food for you" said Ran pouting._

_"No, he didn't. We have the same lunch, Ran!" _

_"I'm sure that we don't" she said while grabbing his brother's backpack again and pulling._

_"Why do you think that? Onii-chan made the same thing for both of us!"_

_"No! They always give you everything, you are their favorite, all because you are a scaredy cat!" yelled Ran. Ren felt tears pricking his eyes._

_"That's not true! I'm not a scaredy cat! You are so mean!"_

_"I'm not mean. You are awful, Ren! You are always crying and because of that mom, dad and onii-chan pay more attention to you than to me! And I don't get why that is; you are the one who is always bothering everyone about keeping the lights on, because you are a scaredy cat!" Ren felt his tears making their way down his cheeks while he sniffed. Ran sighed loudly. "See! You are crying now! You are such a baby!" she run inside the school feeling really angry. Ren started running towards the street while whimpering softly, not seeing where he was going._

_End of flashback._

And there he was now, cold, hungry and lost. He's been hours trying to remember the way back home but with no results. He's also been crying all day. His sister was right! He was such a cry baby.

"But I can't help it" whispered Ren to himself.

"Hey guys, look!" Ren heard a voice and some footsteps getting closer to him, he lifted his head only to find a group made up of 4 guys, probably teenagers, who were drinking and smoking. They were walking towards him. "It's a little kid" said one of them smirking.

"A little kid? And what are we going to be doing with a kid?" said the tallest man, taking big steps until he was right in front of Ren, who tried to make himself smaller.

"Well, I was thinking about relieving ourselves. After all, my girlfriend just dumped me" Ren was really confused and scared. What did those men want from him?

"Are you kidding me, man? I thought we were going to steal something from him and that was it"

"Oh, come on. Just steal something? He has only a bag and probably with shit from school or something. I need some relief, man" said the one who appeared to be the leader while he unbuckled his belt. Ren started crying.

"Oh, look, the cutie is crying!"

"Fuck, guys. Look at him, look at how adorable he looks with his tear stained face, I just want to eat him" said the leader of the group. "Hold him down" he ordered. The three man roughly grabbed Ren, who cried in pain, and laid him on the floor. Ren struggled but couldn't get them of off him. The leader smirked and got on his knees in front of him.

"LET HIM GO!" screamed Makoto appearing behind the leader and then grabbing him by the shoulders, making him stand up so he could punch him with all his strength. The others let Ren go and started running away. Makoto kneeled on the man who was in the floor holding his bleeding nose, but before he could do anything he felt a hand on his shoulder, when he turned around he saw Haruka's eyes, and slowly got up, the man run away. He turned his head towards his little brother, who was standing there, looking at him with a smile. "Ren" he whispered.

"Onii-chan" Makoto kneeled in front of him and pulled his brother in a tight hug. They were both crying.

"Where were you? Ren, Oh my God, Ren, I'm so happy you are okay" said Makoto with a big smile on his face. But then he pulled Ren away and while holding him by the shoulders said "Don't you ever do something like that Ren, never. Did you hear me?"

"Yes, onii-chan. I'm so sorry" said Ren while sniffing. Makoto smiled gently while caressing his brother's cheek.

"Now, go give a big hug to Haru-chan. Okay?" Ran nodded really excited. Haruka kneeled in front of them and opened his arms, Ren excitedly hugged Haruka hiding his face in the older boy's chest. Haruka hugged Ren tightly. When they separated Ren looked at him with wide eyes.

"Haru-nii, why are you crying? You never cry!" Haruka touched his cheeks to find that, yes, he was actually crying. He dried his tears and looked at Ren with a little smile.

"I'm just really glad that you are okay" the moment was cut short when they heard a growling coming from Ren's stomach. Ren blushed. Makoto took him in his arms and stood up.

"Poor thing, of course you are hungry. Let's get you home, okay?" asked Makoto. Ren nodded.

"Ren, why did you come here?" asked Haruka out of nowhere.

"I don't really know. But I had so much fun that day! I got to swim with Onii-chan and Haru-nii!" said Ren laughing.

Makoto smiled warmly. Everything was going to be okay now.

Author's note: Hello, guys! So this is really not the end. I mean, yes, Ren has been found, but we still need to see everybody's reactions, right? And I didn't mean to make Ran look like a bad girl, I really didn't, she was just really jealous and, come on, she's just a kid!

And Silver, I'm so sorry I made you cry! Hahaha, I hope you won't cry too much with this chapter!

Kisses!


End file.
